The present disclosure relates to managing files retrieved over computer networks, and more specifically, to automatically deleting files after the user is finished with them.
When a user chooses to download a file in a browser, chat client, email client, or other application, the resulting downloaded file is frequently opened by a second application. The downloaded file is typically saved into a download folder. Over time, this folder stores many previously downloaded files. In many cases, a given file may be only needed once. However these files remain in the download folder, taking up space and cluttering the storage system. Further, there could be a security risk in unnecessarily keeping sensitive files. The user must keep track of which files to keep and which files to delete, which can be a difficult task, wastes time, and is often neglected. Further complicating this problem is the nature of the file names. Many times the files downloaded from online services have names that give little information to the user about the contents of the file or whether the file should be kept. Deciding whether to keep a file often requires a user to reopen a file, wait for the application to load, determine the contents of the file, determine if the file should be deleted, locate the file in the download folder, and manually delete the file.
Current solutions are inadequate to address the problems associated with downloaded files. One solution involves keeping multiple download folders, requiring the user to switch back and forth between the two folders depending on the expected use of the file. The user must remember to change the target download folder depending on whether the file is for temporary use. Another solution is to routinely empty the download folder, essentially making all downloaded files temporary use only. This method deletes files that the user wishes to keep, if the file hasn't been manually saved to another folder. Current solutions are tedious, time consuming, and waste storage space.